Lafcadio
  • Mare Limen
  • Rerum Deliciae
  • Stargazing for Beginners
  • Counting the Rings
  • Wildlife Sightings
  • Portland Bridges
  • Dig Your Way Out

Day 14 - The View From Between

2/14/2011

0 Comments

 
:110214: My captors have no sympathy for my self-imposed torture.
Picture
I walked, once, from a few blocks from the Campanile (that bell / clock tower you see in the blue hazy distance) to a few blocks from where this picture was taken - about four and a half miles.

It seemed like a reasonable idea at the time. I didn't have a driver's license for the entirety of the time I spent living in this area, so most of my solo travel involved public transportation.

Much of the public transportation was underground, so I would emerge from the tunnels with an understanding of the immediate radius of the station, but not so much a clear understanding of how those radii connected to each other.

On this particular day, I realized that I not only knew precisely where I was, but I also could envision all of the connecting streets between my present location and my destination.

Knowing how to get from point A to point B makes public transportation obsolete, right? I'm pretty sure that was the rationalization I made to myself.

Things I had going for me: My understanding of my route was accurate, it was a lovely day, it was nearly 100% downhill, and I had no deadlines. Things I failed to consider: I had no water or sunblock, I was wearing flip-flops, I had already been walking around downtown Berkeley all day, and I had no realistic concept of the distance involved.

Parts of the route were quite lovely in their city way; Telegraph, Shattuck, and Solano Avenues are great for people-watching. Henry and Sutter Streets have broad, leafy trees. Mostly, though, I realized pretty early on that I should have just taken the bus.

I arrived at my destination sunburned, dehydrated, exhausted, and with sore feet. Also, I had nothing to show for it. So what if I walked? It wasn't so great a distance that it actually mattered. The dollar or so I saved in bus fare wasn't significant enough to mean anything. I got no sympathy for my exhaustion. Nobody cared. Nobody even really noticed.

Therein lies the lesson, the thing I can take away from that walk, and from subsequent instances in which I have decided it might just be easier to walk. It's not easier physically, but it's a form of catharsis that makes sense to me.

When the "easy" way will get me there too fast, the journey too banausic. When I'm not ready to be at my destination, but I know I have to go. When I want to take the time to see every step of my journey, no matter how many steps it might take. When I need to organize my thoughts before I get there, or before I get anywhere.

Little things happen along the way, which remind me of little other things, which remind me of still more little things, and I can't help but smile at how all things truly are connected. Nobody could possibly follow along with all the leaps my thoughts make as I walk. Even walking next to me and seeing what I saw, a companion could not comprehend how the scene before us translated in my mind to the interconnectedness of the universe.

So, I arrive, sunburned and sweaty, thirsty and tired. And grinning.




What took you so long?

I walked.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture
    "A human being is part of a whole, called by us the 'Universe,' a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something sepa- rated from the rest—a kind of optical delu- sion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widen- ing our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."
                                                         - Albert Einstein


    Categories

    All
    Amicus
    Antecessor
    Antiqua
    Caelum
    Calculo
    Cognatus
    Discipulina
    Existimatio
    Festum
    Ire Maior
    Librorum
    Lucus
    Obcupatio
    Prosapia
    Respublica
    Scientiam
    Spectaculum
    Stadium
    Volgus

    Archives

    July 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    May 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    November 2009
    September 2009
    January 2009
    November 2006
    August 2006
    March 2006
    February 2006
    January 2006

    RSS Feed

    Day 32 - Olympic Design
    Day 31 - Just a Little Shak
    Day 30 - Neil DeGrasse Tys
    Day 29 - State of Design
    Day 28 - No Human Being I
    Day 27 - The Glass Is...
    Day 26 - Apparently I'm An
    Day 25 - You Know You Sh
    Day 24 - As Luck Would Ha
    Day 23 - Hassle Free Holid
    Day 22 - 9 Weeks Away
    Day 21 - The Catfish Know
    Day 20 - Divided by Two
    Day 19 - Catch Rays on the
    Day 18 - The Power of the
    Day 17 - Stuck to the Glass
    Day 16 - Stay for the Georg
    Day 15 - A Place to Put His
    Day 14 - The View From Be
    Day 13 - Color Geek
    Day 12 - Minor Celebrity
    Day 11 - We've Been Waiti
    Day 10 - Obtuseness Abou
    Day 9 - From the List
    Day 8 - Wearing the Right
    Day 7 - I Heart the Olympic
    Day 6 - Back When
    Day 5 - Natural Selection a
    Day 4 - Priorities
    Day 3 - Epilogue
    Day 2 - Freefall
    Day 1 - Secret Treasure
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.